The beast tamer exiled from the hero’s party and the cat eared girl from the strongest race meet
The battle was over…
Cassion came rushing over in a fluster.
His face was full of shock.
Almost like he had just seen something unbelievable.
Could it be… did he realize that we’re actually human…?
“You guys…”
“Uh…”
“What the hell, you’re insanely strong!”
“Huh?”
Cassion suddenly broke into a smile.
Then, as if praising us, he started smacking our backs hard.
“Ow!?”
“You said you were skilled, but this is way beyond that. I saw the fight—both of you. To think you could completely overwhelm monsters of that level one-on-one… I wasn’t expecting that. I’m not even sure I could do it myself.”
“Uh… thank you?”
He is… praising us, right?
But since he’s a demon, I can’t help staying on guard.
Maybe there’s something behind it? Maybe he’s just saying this to make us let our guard down?
Still, Cassion didn’t look like that at all.
He was sincerely complimenting us, and seemed truly happy about the victory.
Honestly… it’s throwing me off.
Is he really a demon?
Or maybe…
I just didn’t know, but demons are supposed to be able to make expressions like that?
“What happened with the attack?”
“Oh, don’t worry. We fought them off properly. A few almost slipped away, but… Ray and Yuu handled it. Really, I’ve got nothing but gratitude. Thanks a ton!”
“I see… if the town wasn’t harmed, then that’s good.”
“I’ll definitely repay this debt. Ah… sorry, I’ve still got a lot left to do. You two go ahead and rest.”
In a hurry, Cassion ran off somewhere.
Probably to deal with the aftermath of the battle.
That left just me and Yuki, looking at each other.
“For now… should we head back to Sora and Luna?”
“Yeah, let’s go.”
――――――――――
“…I see, so that’s how it is.”
After reuniting with Sora and Luna, we told them about Cassion.
He’s part of the Four Heavenly Kings’ personal guard.
And the one who leads the demons of this town.
He may be a demon…
But the conclusion Yuki and I reached was that he’s a straightforward, likable man.
“Mmm, what’s the meaning of this? I always thought demons were messengers of destruction and chaos.”
“Sora feels the same. I’ve never heard anything like this from the elder or from my mother either…”
“So even Al-san doesn’t know about this, huh.”
That might be unavoidable.
Demons are enemies of every other race.
They never engage in trade, so no information from the demon side ever reaches us.
That’s why, until now, the details have been shrouded in mystery.
Judging from their actions, I’d always thought of them as heartless, tearless devils…
But now, that assumption has crumbled all at once.
I still don’t know what Cassion or the other demons think of humans, but…
At the very least, they’re not heartless beings.
They laugh, grieve… and fear death, just like we do.
There’s no difference.
“Rain, what do we do?”
“…”
“As Sora sees it, demons are a concern, but before that, shouldn’t we first accomplish our original goal? That’s my suggestion.”
“Stopping the Four Heavenly Kings’ plan, right?”
“Yeah… that’s right.”
I thought it over for a moment.
So many new facts have come up, and I couldn’t organize them properly—it almost made my head throb.
Even so, by carefully considering, I managed to come to an answer.
“…Our basic plan doesn’t change. We’ll rescue the kidnapped people and prevent further attacks at all costs. That’s absolute.”
“Yeah, exactly. That’s why we came to the Western Continent in the first place.”
“But the demons are still a concern. We can’t just ignore them, or pretend we didn’t see this… we have to know. That’s how I feel.”
If I kept thinking of demons as just enemies…
I had a feeling I’d end up making some kind of terrible mistake.
“I agree with Rain.”
“Yuki too?”
“Yeah. I thought demons were natural enemies of all living things… but after seeing this town, I can’t think that way anymore. They looked no different from us.”
“Indeed… Sora has fought demons several times, but the people in this town are completely different. They don’t seem tied to destruction or slaughter. They look no different from humans.”
“Mm. To fight them just because they’re ‘the enemy’ feels a bit wrong. Even if we do end up clashing in the end, I think it’s better to at least know what demons really are.”
I had Yuki and the others’ agreement.
But we mustn’t forget about Tania and the rest either.
“We should talk again about our course of action. Let’s regroup with Tania and the others.”
“Yeah. We’ll rest a little first… and then it’ll be the right time.”
“It’s decided then.”
“In that case, let’s take a short break. Rain and Yuki, you must be tired, right?”
“I’ll make some delicious food.”
“If it’s cooking, Sora can also—”
“Stop.”
“Stop.”
“Rain too!?”
Yuki had a puzzled look, not understanding what that was about—but that was fine.
When it came to Sora’s cooking, it was best if he never knew.
“Alright, let’s rest for now.”
If we let exhaustion pile up, we might fail when it really matters.
And so, until it was time to meet Tania and the others, we decided to take a break.
Not long after that, the sun set.
After eating the meal Luna had made, we went to bed early.
And then, we let our bodies rest from the exhaustion of battle…
“…Damn, I woke up too early.”
I woke up at a time even earlier than dawn, before the sun had fully risen.
Once I was awake, I couldn’t easily fall back asleep…
So, being careful not to wake the others, I went outside for a walk.
“So this is a demon town… huh.”
At this hour, no one was around.
But just looking at it, I could tell it was a very peaceful town.
“What should we really consider our enemy…?”
“Good morning.”
That voice reached me, almost as if in response to my muttered words.
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